Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short talked about comprehensive tax reform earlier on Monday at a panel organized by Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity, two nonprofits affiliated with the Koch Brothers. Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips led the discussion on a prospective reform that both organizations have defined as an opportunity to “unleash economic growth” and “improve the lives of millions of Americans” in a statement last Friday.

“This is a pass fail exercise, and we will pass tax reform,” said Secretary Mnuchin, emphasizing that the administration was working towards creating a fairer and simpler tax code. Director Short claimed that a lot more groups have been galvanized with the tax reform, as opposed to the GOP’s failed attempts at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.

Today’s panel was announced on July 28, a day after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Secretary Mnuchin, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX), and White House Chairman Gary Cohn —also known as the “Big Six”— issued a joint statement on tax reform. “We are all united in the belief that the single most important action we can take to grow and help the middle class get ahead is to fix our broken tax code for families, small business, and American job creators competing at home and around globe,” the statement said, a message reiterated by President Trump on many occasions. “This is the greatest negotiator,” said Mnuchin of Trump, “He understands business.”

The plan will seek to lower taxes across the entire economic spectrum, according to Mnuchin and Short, and bring people back to the labor force through more jobs, higher wages and a wide array of capital investments. Whether a tax cut will be the most proactive approach, however, is a point of contention. “If you just lower taxes, most estimates show that the deficit would go up,” says UCLA Law Professor Jason Oh. In order to compensate for the tax reduction without increasing the deficit, the government would also need to cut spending, according to Oh. Cuts on certain spending programs can be difficult due to political challenges, he adds. [Both Phillips and Short acknowledged the group of protestors outside the event venue.]

Hopeful about reducing the taxes, Mnuchin said the plan would also simplify the tax code. “We do have a tax code that is hard to comply with,” says Oh. It is hard for the IRS to determine if people are actually complying properly, according to the professor. “The burden is on both sides.”

Although the “Big Six” is majorly Republican, both politicians added that tax reform can be a bipartisan initiative. As the unspoken names behind the panel, Koch Brothers, for example, have supported candidates across the political spectrum, and David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1980.

While the Koch Brothers do not advertise their ties to Freedom Partners, five current and former Koch executives sit on its six-people board of directors, according to the organization’s website. The nonprofit also admitted to being backed by the brothers in 2015. Americans For Prosperity is even more closely linked to the Kochs, with David as its chairman.